New problem with the tC

[tCfrk86]

I have had a clicking sound in the engine for the last month or so, so yesterday i took my car to the dealer (Riverside) in Tulsa. The Service Manager, John Arbuckle, had me start up the car and hold it at 2K rpms. He said that it may be a valve problem and told me to come back today at 10am and have the techs look at it and see what they thought it was without taking the engine apart. So i at 9:45 on the dot i set out to the dealer, and about a mile away from the dealer i heard a clink sound and smoke pouring out behind me, first thought "OH SHIT!". So i kept driving because there was no engine power loss and made it to the dealer without having to stop, i get in the bay and open my hood and look under my car to find a puddle of oil under the car. One of the service bay people that check the cars in comes out and asks my reason for coming in today, and i tell him the situation, he tells me he will have a tech come look at it and to go to the waiting room. He comes and gets me to tell me that my oil pan drain plug had fallen out and that was the reason for the leak and that the tech out a new one in and put oil back in cause it was comepletely empty, and that when they started up the car the clicking sound i have been hearing for the last month sounded like either a rod or a valve problem. He told me that he would have the techs take it apart and have them look at it and if it needed repair he would call my extended warranty (which is 100k miles) company and get them to pay to get it fixed at all costs, because if it is a valve problem they should pay for it because it is an easy fix, but if it is a rod problem i need a whole motor, more than likely used with less than 60k miles, because it is the cheapest way to go (my car has 66k miles). So i called my dad ad he told me to go ahead and have them take it apart since it would only cost $150-200 to take it apart and put back together if the warranty people would not pay to get the engine problem fixed. If they dont pay to get it fixed i am screwed cause my parents will not cover the expences since they just put the car under my name. So i will keep you all updated on the issue, since they will be calling me tomorrow to tell me whats wrong and it will take atleast 2 weeks to have it fixed.

My poor car :crybaby2:.

[Stu_Gotti]

Could be a valve, but my guess is a spun crank bearing... I had that same shit happen in my stock block... lack of oil will spin your bearings quick!

Keep us posted dude! I'm Mr. Blow a tC engine, so I can empathize with ya! Just tough it out for now, believe me, I know it sucks not knowing.. but there is help here and we can figure a way to get you back up and running at minimal costs.

:icon_yes:

[Stu_Gotti]

Here (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=91056&highlight=saga) is my ScionLife thread I had... long read, but basically I heard a ticking noise coming from what sounded like the upper part of the engine, but since the engine noise can travel, I wasn't sure...

I took it too the dealership, bunch of BS ensued, tried telling me all these reasons why they thought it was making the noise, tore it apart, ended up getting all the way down to the crank to see the bearings had spun, scored the cylinder walls, and had shavings and shit in my oil pan.

They tried telling me that the shavings were from the Weapon*R SRI I had left installed on the engine; they were sucked in from the tubing which had flakes from the machining process still in the tubing [truth] and made it's way through the combustion chamber into the crank, spun the bearings and scored the cylinder walls on the way down.

I ended up getting dicked over on the warranty work, stuck with paying for the labor, Toyota as a "good-will jesture" paid for the parts. You may, if shit doesn't go well for you, ask about a good-will jesture for being a loyal customer, etc.

Keep us posted!

[MSSC]

Damn Bro, I hope it works out!!!

[tCfrk86]

The good thing about all of this is that the dealership is willing to work with me to get it fixed, cause they get paid the same no matter what happens.

[Stu_Gotti]

:-P The dealership would rather not do warranty work...

[tCfrk86]

Its under my extended warranty, they have a guy who can put the motor in in a day if it is necessary, because they said if it is a rod the warranty company will go the cheapest way which is a used motor with less than 60k miles and mine has 66k, so its a win situation if the warranty company will cover it. If it is a valve problem then the warranty people mill more than likely cover it and that is the easiest thing to fix for a "major" problem on the motor. It may be the last thing i ever get covered under warranty tho, cause its such a major problem.

[revvintc]

I have a Question, If your oil plug came out who changed your oil the last time? If you have them change it for you every time then the fault falls on them. And if that is the case then you should get refunded all the money you spent.

[tCfrk86]

I changed it a week ago, but i dont remember how tight i made the plug.

[Hot Dog]

I would not mention you changed the oil to them.
You know how a warranty company is just like insurance you pay it but when you need it they always try to find some loop hole or put the blame else where.:ok:
Good Luck hate to see a (tc)or any other scion down:crybaby2:

[tCfrk86]

No worries, i did tell them that i did, but he didn't care about that he just wants a satisfied customer because he is the new Service Manager, he said he would lie out the ass even if the adjuster from the warranty company asked anything about it, unless it was starved from oil, which i know and he understands it wasn't. They were the last ones to change the oil before i did myself on the last one, so if it was oil starved it was more than likely their fault cause i only changed the oil a week ago and the noise started long before that.

[Stu_Gotti]

Well best of luck dude, wish I had your luck :lol:

[bipolarscion]

hey robert,

I happen to work for an exstended warrenty company. I have a few questions for you.

Where did you buy your car?
Was it used?
where did you buy your agreement?

I reason why I ask is because the company i work for administers warranties accross the U.S at many dealers, and all carmax's.

I hope you don't have one of the warranties that we administer because there might be more comming out of your pocket.

if you need a new motor, a inspector will be sent out to the r/f that your car is at. They will go through the motor with the tech and confirm the diag of the tech. After this my company decides what the next course of action is. They usually request all maintanece records. Since the r/f says that your drain plug was not present they will probably request the maintance records. once they are reviewed they decide to buy a new motor, or not. if not you pay the diag.

I am not sure if you have one of my companies agreements but please post the info i asked for and i will check my work computers to see if u have one of my agreements

[tCfrk86]

I bought it at Riverside Toyota/Scion. I bought it new. I bought the agreement through Toyota ExtraCare, and the agreement is with TMCC in Atlanta.

[kris5597]

hey what did the ticking sound like? i was talking with stu-gotti and i am having a lil issue as well. i noticed that comparing my car to an auto tc with the same amount of miles with stock header and i have tsudo header that my valve chatter was louder. we have same weapon r SRI. but i just noticed that my valve chatter was louder. not sure why but im hoping to figure it out as well. what did the noise sound like on your car?

[Stu_Gotti]

I have a Weapon*R SRI as well... do me a favor, both of you... since this shit was pulled on me, take off your intake piping and check inside of it for some metal shavings that may be caked along the inner walls...

Post back what you guys see...

I had tiny metal shavings they tried telling me was the cause of all my bearing issues, which I highly doubt, but that'll also eliminate the chance of them saying it was the cause of your issues and saying it wont be covered under warranty!

Thanks! ;)

[tCfrk86]

It sounds like normal chatter but it is a separate sound and louder. I have an eGay SRI that i bought from another person here in Tulsa so i wouldn't know about that problem.

[Stu_Gotti]

Aight... just trying to help set you guys up for success! ;)

[tCfrk86]

Thanks bro.

[kris5597]

alright will do. ill check it when i fix my problem. i took my car to toyota earlier and had a tech look at it. he said the engine sounds fine and he said the loud ticking sounded like an exhaust leak from the header gasket. i reused my gasket with this header and he says it sounds like its not sealed up. to take the header off clean the ports on the engine and the header and put a new gasket on and that will fix the problem. ill check my intake when i do this as well. ill post the result guys. thanks.

[tCfrk86]

Killing two birds with one stone, aka helping two scikos with one problem. lolz

[Stu_Gotti]

Sciko way of doing thangs! 8)

[kris5597]

yea i hope thats the prob. thats what he said so ill take his word for it. dont think he would lie. lol. and he said the engine sounded fine. he said just get new gasket.

[Stu_Gotti]

Could be dude, go the cheap route first, if not that... I'd strongly suggest having them look further into it...

;-)

[kris5597]

wel yea def. i have three scion dealerships around here. i took it to the one we always meet at and shit cause i know a couple of peeps there. so i dont really care if they see whats all on my car cause i didnt buy my car there. but if i needed work done i would take it to the one where i got my car from. cause as far as they know my car is stock. and i would put it all back stock if i had to get work done before i go up there. so they would never know lol. but yea i def hope the new gasket fixes it. it rained today so ill put it on tom.

[kris5597]

alright after five hours straight of trying not to kill my car. i finally came to two conclusions. good news and bad news. the good news is is that its not the gasket. or it could be but anyways $30 bucks wasted on that. next problem i noticed the the header yet again had another defect. one of the pipes of the header was sitting on the engine k. when i pulled the header of there was a lil indension of where the header had been tightened down and was vibrating and what not on the low end of the engine. i was like O SHIT!!!! so i took it off and after an hour of thinking i said F it and took a hammer to the pipe. bent the hell out of it. well indented it enough to where it wouldnt hit the engine anymore. cause it was holding the top piece from lining up and bolting clean and flush to the head. so after all this time WASTED yes i said WASTED looked like there was enough clearance and i put the header back on with the new gasket and everything. cranked it up and TAH DAH!!! no fix. still clicking same the exact way. maybe a lil quieter but idk. still pissed as hell. now im starting to worry. so today ima put the factory header back on and see what happens. if it still clicks then im taking my car to the dealership and driving it straight through the service department and throwing the keys at them and telling them to fix the damn thing. cause it aint nothing im doing. but if it does act right with the factory header on then ima have to figure out something else why the tsudo header wont fix. ive tried contacting the tsudo manufacturer and i got nothing. they wont reply. been over two weeks about the s pipe conflict and not a damn thing. think ima mail the header back to them filled with anthrax or something. so yea im pissed and stressed and dont know what to do but keep trouble shooting. if the stock shit dont fix it. off to stock we go and then off to the dealership. ill keep yall posted and let me know what yall think.

[strike69]

Could be a valve, but my guess is a spun crank bearing... I had that same shit happen in my stock block... lack of oil will spin your bearings quick!

Keep us posted dude! I'm Mr. Blow a tC engine, so I can empathize with ya! Just tough it out for now, believe me, I know it sucks not knowing.. but there is help here and we can figure a way to get you back up and running at minimal costs.

:icon_yes:
lol how many engine have you been through?like 3?

[Stu_Gotti]

ill keep yall posted and let me know what yall think.

Please do, and personally, I wouldn't waste anymore time trying to figure this yourself... ticking that fluctuates with the engine acceleration is not good...

[Stu_Gotti]

lol how many engine have you been through?like 3?

1 long and 1 shortblock.

[kris5597]

yea i will take it in as soon as i can. dumb question what the dif between a short block and a long block?

[Stu_Gotti]

yea i will take it in as soon as i can. dumb question what the dif between a short block and a long block?

Not a dumb question actually...

Long block is the head, block and crank; short block is the block and crank.

[tCfrk86]

so today ima put the factory header back on and see what happens. if it still clicks then im taking my car to the dealership and driving it straight through the service department and throwing the keys at them and telling them to fix the damn thing. cause it aint nothing im doing. but if it does act right with the factory header on then ima have to figure out something else why the tsudo header wont fix.

Do you have an aftermarket s-pipe too???

[kris5597]

no i dont. wish i did. the only thing i have is the tsudo header which only uses the s pipe that it comes with. i have a factory header and s pipe but i got it from my friend. he failed to mention to me that the 02 bung in the s pipe is stripped. so im kinda screwed either way ya know lol. it sucks i gotta figure out something. car has to get inspected fri.

[tCfrk86]

Ok cause i was thinking that if you did i had a rattle from the second o2 sensor on the s-pipe, and it was cause it was loose. Have you checked everything to see if everything is tight?

[kris5597]

yeap everything is tight. im still adjusting shit. my header was pretty much being held up by my engine. with a hammer and some luck and dented it in in clean ways and spots to contour with the engine. the header has set so much lower but still not sealing yet. starting to worry me. tom i will work on it some more and ima put the factory header on to see if it still ticks. yet again ill keep yall updated. i hate that header. all i gotta do is get it to seal up. pissing me off though.

[tCfrk86]

Good luck, still no update on my car, they were supposed to call me monday and today still no call, hopefully i will hear from them tomorrow or i will call friday cause this is just nuts.

[The_Game]

No worries, i did tell them that i did, but he didn't care about that he just wants a satisfied customer because he is the new Service Manager, he said he would lie out the ass even if the adjuster from the warranty company asked anything about it, unless it was starved from oil, which i know and he understands it wasn't. They were the last ones to change the oil before i did myself on the last one, so if it was oil starved it was more than likely their fault cause i only changed the oil a week ago and the noise started long before that.

Damn man your lucky. Most dealerships are out to screw you over when they come in with warranty work. But you got lucky. But the whole situation sucks about the car though. Best of luck and keep us updated.

[tCfrk86]

Yeah i know im lucky but i still dont know if it is covered, but i did find out that my pistons are knocking so that is bad.

[Stu_Gotti]

Yeah, that's not good at all... I'm willing to bet you spun a bearing or two, perhaps the cylinders are now jacked up, probably going to need a new shortblock if that's the case.

[tCfrk86]

If i cant get this fixed im thinking of just replacing the whole motor myself and sell it and get me a crotch rocket and an old corolla w/ a turbo mr2 motor.

[SangreRaVen]

The engine on my tC also has a tapping or sound such as this, its on the top end on the drivers side. I thought it was maybe the engine rattling against the strut bar but I checked it and nothing. It has been doing it for a few months now, sadly the main warranty is out on my tC and even with the powertrain warranty still good. Scion doesnt really like to do much for me anymore, they had to deal with me when my car kept having to go in for warranty work the first year I owned it... its one of those tC's from the first year built in the first few months of production... any defect found for the tC and mine usually ended up having it, and they hated messing with my car.. I hope your issue works out well, wonder what the tap sound is, i dont have any mods on the engine to my tC really.

-RaVen

[Stu_Gotti]

If your able to get an in car or out of car sound recorded, either by video or sound clip, that might give me some idea since I've had this issue before.

[tCfrk86]

New update! The extended warranty company denied the claim to fix the tC, so i am a little upset but this may be the chance for me to do what i have wanted to do since i got the car. SUPERCHARGE!!! All i need to do is pay riverside around 200 bucks for the teardown and rebuild of the engine and bring her home and put her in the garage, buy me an engine and put it together. I may be out a car for a while but i got a call back from Office Depot for a job making about 8 buck an hour full time and i can start the project, but i have always wanted a project car and this may have to be it, but my dad is still going to find out what is wrong cause they still havent told us what is wrong to have the extended warranty company not take the claim, so i may just be able to fix that and supercharge it. The only downside is that i will not be attending college this semester. I will keep you all updated on what went wrong and what i will have to do, thanks to all who have viewed and replied about my problem.

[kris5597]

alright i fixed the problem with mine. it was the header. loud tick it now gone with the new header on. and im pretty damn happy and lucky lol.

[tCfrk86]

New and maybe last update till i get some money. The extended warranty company was not some place in geogia it was Toyota and they denied the claim because of 2 major problems with the pistons. They also denied it because they think it was abused which it was not and because i had a local race track sticker (Hallet Motor Speedway) that i got a couple of years back on it so they thought i was racing it which i was not. So until i get a job and get some money in i will not have a car for atleat 3 or more months.

[Stu_Gotti]

So they tell you what was wrong with them exactly?

[tCfrk86]

More than one piston is knocking and a couple rods are stretched.

[Stu_Gotti]

They say what they think caused it?

[tCfrk86]

Cant remember, but i think i can safely say this is the last time i will ever see it, my mom is thinking of selling it cause she is afraid even if we get a new engine what else will go wrong. So im not too upset, tho i really like being a member of this car club so its not the last you will hear of me. I am thinking of getting an old mr2 and just fix it up a little and then maybe even a bike.

[Stu_Gotti]

Bummer, well best of luck man!